In the works!

 

This week I have been getting some pieces ready to finish for Christmas. I have a lot of unfinished projects, so for now, I am working on ones I really want to finish. Then I can decide what to do with other projects later. 

One project was a tree skirt. I made this years ago, all pieced by hand. I decided to sew it inside out with the batting and backing. My idea was to do ties in each hexagon, but not so sure now. I am wondering if it would look good if I quilted around the design elements from the outside in, then left the gold pieces, as is. Any suggestions are appreciated, but I am lazy, so simple is best, but I want it to look nice. I messed up the center, it's a bit wonky, but not noticeable when it is around the tree.

The second project is a large wall hanging. I have a rod hanger over our front entry, so this will be perfect to hang there, hopefully it will fit. I have the stockings and stars done, so next is sashing to piece those together. Next will be side pieces with trees and stars, then the top and bottom will have a saying. I realized I didn't have enough of the original black, so hoping to find the same type at the store this weekend.

I decided I wanted to have fun this halloween. We don't get kids anymore and live on a road, so no one stops by. So, we went to the kids and got to have fun with them. I changed my look a bit, went with an ugly witch look. The black spots on my face are spider stencils and I used the face paint to enhance my wrinkles. The kids live in a rural area, so the houses were more spaced in some areas. We took our truck and I got out with the kids and walked to houses when they were closer.

The funniest thing was, Alex would not go near me when I came, I guess I was a bit too creepy for him. Once he realized grandma hadn't turned into a real witch, he was fine.

Some of the neighbors had some cool displays and at one house, they had beer and pizza for the adults. It was fun to see the boys having fun and see the displays and other kids. This is one of the best displays we saw, they had a lot of other items in their yard and a fog machine.

I hope you all had a fun halloween and enjoy your weekend. 

Busy week!

 This week I have been catching up from camping. Lots of cleaning and getting ready for Halloween events. The kids have a trunk or treat so I may go to that and we have some activities in town, so I decided I wanted to have fun this week, and dress up.

I have lots of black clothes, so I have a black skirt, hooded shirt, lace sided jacket and black tights, along with black booties. I also found a hat that I can decorate, I am waiting for black gloves and accessories to add to hat. A bit of mousse and I can frizz or curl up my hair to make it stand out.

I am not sure if you recognize the look, but I was going for the Stevie Nicks look, but most think I am a witch, lol. She has long blond hair with bangs, but I had trimmed mine recently and I refuse to cut my hair into bangs.

We had a nice weekend, a bit cooler and windy, but nice weather for getting out for walks. One beach I never go to is nearby, so we went there and walked on the boardwalk and along the beach. The tide was coming in and the seagulls were waiting for things to wash up.

We also went to the fishing beach to check out the waves. I was watching this boat and as it came around the rocks, it seemed to stop and get rocked around by the waves. It finally started its motor and was on its way, not a good place to stall out.

On the last night, I was on the hill to see the sunset. As I was waiting, a flock of Great Blue Herons flew overhead and were caught by the setting sun.

At another beach we checked out, I spotted a few crazy people, fishing as the tide came in.

I also spotted a group of Cormorants, hanging out in the channel. 

We also got a day to explore the river ways and the foliage. It was raining in the morning but we got a break in the afternoon.

An old mill that sat beside a waterfall dam, but they redid it so the kayakers could get through easier and to help prevent flooding.

And on the other side of the bridge.

While out we went shopping and couldn't resist getting Bean a present. He loves it but hates having his photo taken.

And I am lucky enough to be on a high porch in the back, so I was able to catch the comet. It is still visible but not as much, each night, till the end of the month. I hope everyone had a good week and can enjoy the weekend. 

Friday Finish!

 

I was able to finish my new piece, just in time for Halloween. This is a design by Bird Brain Designs. It was fun to do and fun to do in color. I am also working on a larger piece with snowmen, and another, so hopefully I can get those done, along with a few quilts in time for Christmas. 

We were able to get out for a ride, last weekend, to enjoy some foliage and some short walks. I didn't have a lot of energy and I guess I was coming down with a flu or the new version of covid, so have been fighting that off, this week. Hopefully the meds I got will knock it out so we can get out this weekend.

This is one place we stopped, a river in Connecticut. Not as much foliage as we had hoped.

The next place we stopped, had more color. A view up river from the boat launch.

The falls were not running as full, as they usually are.

And a view, down river. It is a nice area with a drive along the river, in different towns. I am not sure how much or where the foliage is now, but it is always nice to go for the ride and hopefully some hikes. I hope you all have a nice weekend.

Cooking and crafting

 

This week I have been working on my new project, but I still have a bit of stitching to do. I also had a few  birds hit my sliding glass doors, so I need something to put on the upper half. I found a fun site that has Halloween cut outs, so I made a few and taped them to the window. So far, no bird strikes, so hopefully that did the trick. 

The ghosts are really simple to do and would be great for kids too. For the witch, I cut out the design from the print out, since it was black ink. You can find the pattern and others here at Love Paper.

I also made some Chalupa. I still have some tweaking to do, to get mine right, but it is not hard to make and it tastes delicious. I use mine as a snack and add homemade blueberry or apple jelly in mine. I also used it to make an egg sandwich, so a great bread to make as a treat. You can find the recipe at Cooking Carnival.

I had a new visitor to my yard this week, an Eastern Phoebe, a first for me.

We were able to spend an afternoon at our favorite beach. Now that summer is over, we can park in the private area and we have the beach to ourselves. Bean was loving being off leash and playing in the water.

It is also nice for birding, I actually had a Belted Kingfisher, stop long enough to snap a shot. 

And a pair of Laughing Gulls. 

We also stopped at the park, and I spotted a group of Great Egrets, of course they flew off, the minute I pulled out the camera.

We found more glass at the private beach but Bill found a large piece of blue glass at the park, so that was a fun find. More colors this time, off season is always better for hunting. 

I hope everyone has a nice weekend. We have more rain tomorrow, so hopefully we can get out on Sunday and find some early foliage. 

Friday Finishes!

 I spent more time at home this week, so more time to finish things. The weekend looks like a washout, so no big outings for me. Today we went for a ride to the beach areas and I was surprised that the private ones, are still keeping people out, so I wasn't able to get to the long point for bird watching. It seems they are keeping parks and beaches open, longer this year. 

My first finish was my Halloween piece. This is another design by Cheri Saffiote for our Facebook group. It had several designs to put into a quilt, but I just wanted this and the other I made, for a set on my wall. As always, it was fun to do and add a few of my own touches. I added a quilted star in the left area, but hard to see in the photo.

The second project I did was a Halloween cat, done with needle felting. I started with a cookie cutter and then added a little more bulk and detail after I got the main shape, felted. I think I do better without a shape, it does limit me, but I wanted it for my wreath, it sits in the middle area.

Over the weekend we got out for a few outings. I am always watching the Semipalmated Plover and wondering what they find in the seaweed. Now I know, there are worms, that come in with the seaweed.

Another day we went to the forts on the island. It was nice to walk around and they cleaned up the area so more open spaces and better pathways to walk on. Beautiful views from the top. I hope everyone had a nice week and have a good week ahead.

Friday Finishes!

This week I wanted to try something new and fun to decorate with. Also, my walls are a mess, so anything I can cover them with, is a bonus.

The first piece I made was a vintage halloween game board. I found the design on the internet and printed it out on card stock. I usually do that at night, to give the ink, time to set. Then I painted a board and antiqued that. I used antique decoupage to put it onto the board, and then more on top. Another good reason to let the ink set, you will have to press out any bubbles that form under the paper. An old credit card is great for smoothing it out.

I sprayed it with matte spray, once it was dry, then added jute for a hanger. You can also find nice boards at the craft stores now. I love how it came out, something I saw in a store, but for me it was cost free, since I had all the supplies.

Then I made two more with vintage postcards. I love the look of old postcards and there are a lot of sites that share them.

And this is where they went, behind my halloween tree. I also found some fun pumpkin bells and more vintage tags to add to the tree. Not the best photo, looks much better in person.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. We have another nice one, so I am hoping to get to the beach and lower tides. Last week the kids were all sick and I guess we all got it at the same time, since I got the same thing. But, I still got out and enjoyed some time at the bay, a beautiful view of the bridge and sailboats, from a new spot that we found.

Friday Finish!

This week I wanted to make a pillow for the chest. I enjoy making larger things to put around the house, and less little means, less clutter and less dusting. I chose a design by Cheri Saffiote, offered on the Facebook group, Quilts by Cheri. She is another person who will never be forgotten and sorely missed.

I added some halloween scraps to make a border and antiqued it, to give it a grungy look. It was fun to make and I like how it looks with my halloween cat, which is sitting on the other side. It measures about 14".

I also needed something to decorate my halloween tree. I have fall leaf, lights and I wanted something more prim, but easy. I found some fun vintage designs online and I printed them on card stock, then threaded a piece of pearl cotton to make a hanger. I also found a fun owl for a topper, I reduced the size to fit the tree and printed that on card stock, as well. I threaded through a small area, so I could tie it to the top and it won't fall over. I think I need some more decorations, so I will have to see if the store has any mini ones.

Ignore the horrible wall, I know it needs to be repainted. We finally painted the walls with a grayed down white and I love the color, but it was too flat and peels off with the rug tape, so we need to get a better finish, that stays put.

Here is a place where you can get a lot of vintage designs, to print out, for free.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. We have some hot days coming up, so it looks like beach days for us.

Weekend Wanderings!

This weekend we had the annual art and craft fair in Scituate. It is a wonderful fair in an older town, with hundreds of vendors, artists and crafters. It is nice to have a mix of arts and antiques and a nice place to just walk around and enjoy outdoor shopping.

The bad thing is, it was crowded, there is parking along the outer streets so parking there means walking a mile to get to the fair so we looked for a parking area. We found one right at the edge of the fair and had openings when we came in, but they charged 20.00, ouch.

The big thing I go for is to visit the Doll Maker, she also sells at the antique barn, we visit and I have been getting a mouse for each season. At the shows she has more variety and she was nice enough to hold a few that I really wanted. I also couldn't resist a cute snowman made by the woman next to her, who also makes hand made baskets, Baskets by Claudia. I wish I had gotten more snowmen, I know a few people who would love them and she only charges 12.00 for them, a great deal, I think.

She held the mice for me, the kitty on the pumpkin was another piece I couldn't resist. The snowman was made by Claudia, she makes small items to sell along with her baskets.

Sunday was a rainy day, and I didn't get much done around the house, we were lazy and watched movies from the free preview weekend;)

Today was a beautiful day, a bit windy but that kept the heat away, perfect for a ride in the country and some hiking.

We headed to Connecticut and took the fast way, so we could have more time at our destinations. The first stop was the Natchaug Forest. We enjoyed a walk around part of the pond, but it was rough terrain and rough on the knees, so we didn't get to do the full hike. The views were beautiful and the leaves are just turning enough to give pops of color to the area.

The second stop was down the road to Mansfield Hollow. It is a larger lake so we enjoyed the lake and headed to the dam. The last time we went, we could not find the dam, this time I knew how to get there.

We stopped at the bottom next to the mill and enjoyed the falls. Bean loves water and had to get in and check it out.

This is looking down the river, beautiful colors lined the banks.

We climbed up the stairs to the dam and it was windy as heck, so hard to take photos. This is a view of the mill, I had to lean on the gate to keep from blowing over.

They had an area on the other side to walk and enjoy the river. There was a beach area where Bean could go off leash and enjoy some play time, he was happy. Some beautiful foliage along the pathway.

It was fun re-exploring these places and having the time to stay and enjoy more of the areas. The bad thing was, the colors weren't as vibrant as they predicted for the area. The good thing is, we still have time to explore more places and enjoy the foliage.

We headed home and since we had the time, we took a short detour to the apple orchards. I got a smaller bag so I can get more fresh ones next week, I love eating fresh apples. They were also selling pumpkins and had activities for the kids, maybe we can bring Nick, next time.

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend and those who were in the storm's path, spared the devastation.

Friday (un) Finish!

I want to thank all for the wonderful comments each week, it means a lot to me that you take the time to comment and I appreciate each and every one, even when I cannot answer or forget.

This week I worked on a punch needle that was a design in the winter issue of Primitive Quilts and Projects. The design is by Tonya Robey of Mad Hen Primitives. The original is a hooked rug. I love Tonya's designs and this was a perfect one to punch. My plan is to make it into  pillow for a gift. I am not happy with the kitty face, needs tweaking and I still have to add the border. This just made it into my punch frame so I will have to put it on my rug frame to finish off the edge and border.

I used Dmc threads, 6 strands. The design is done with a higher height and I went down in height for the background, hard to see in a photo. Once I finish it, I will give it a light wash of antique medium to tone down the brighter colors and give it a more worn look.

The face shows up in the photo since it gets lightened, but it is really too dark to show, in person.

This weekend I will have my grandson. Today I went out and got him a play set and some coloring items, so he has his own toys here. I was also looking for things to do with him and found some new free patterns that you might like to do, while I was searching.

Looking for a no sew pumpkin that you can make with the kids? Or for those of us who are lazy, I like this idea, you just need some styrofoam balls and scrap fabrics. You can find the directions at Think Crafts. I think this is a site that I will explore more when I have the time.

At Trish's Crafts, you can find a really fun witch that is quick and easy. It is a pattern that you could change and do in any style and have fun with the materials.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and lots of fun creating and spending time with your family.

Weekend Wanderings!

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend. We had beautiful weather and were able to get out and enjoy the foliage.

We drove into Connecticut and got off in the town of Putnum. It was a beautiful old town with some beautiful graveyards. I love looking at the old stones but we had a long day ahead, so just enjoyed a short stop to take some photos.

This tree was gorgeous, love how it stood out among the gravestones.

We didn't go too far when I saw this gate to another old graveyard. Someday I would like to go back to this town and take photos of the gravestones and explore the area.

This is the area behind the arch, the trees and fallen leaves, made a stunning view.

It was a nice ride up to Massachusetts, we followed the river and found some great places to kayak and bike, in the future. We went through a lot of old towns with old mills and when we got into Sturbridge, we found an indoor flea market and there was a beautiful waterfall near the parking lot.

I got a beam of light in this photo, it has rainbow colors in it, so I like to think that it is a little bit of heaven, shining down on us.

We do stop a lot and one area we found with a boat launch, had beautiful views and it was a great place to get out with Bean. We also found an area with a dam and a beautiful blue heron, but he flew away before I could get a shot.

The last place we stopped was in the Bigelow forest, they had beautiful trails to walk on and a beautiful pond to paddle on, this will be a place, we come back to. The view is from the picnic area.

Sunday was church and then a drive to do some shopping and a ride along the coastline. The local farm had a new hay sculpture, isn't she fun.

The day ended at Point Judith fishing area. They are still repairing the parking lot from Sandy, but it is larger now, so more parking and the perfect place to relax and enjoy the views. This is a panoramic shot, a fun way to get more of the scenery.

I also wanted to let you know about a beautiful free pattern from Deborah O'Hare of Quilt Routes. Deborah does beautiful art quilts and also sells some of her patterns so you can make your own art quilts. Today she is offering a free pattern by signing up for her newsletter. Her work will inspire you to create your own pieces, so visit her website and you can receive a free pattern, just for signing up.